Chester has the upper hand in preparation for Penn Wood

Southeastern Pennsylvania boys basketball Top 10
Records as of Jan. 3, 2011
1. Chester (Pa.) (6-1)
2. Friends' Central (Wynnewoode) (7-1)
3. Academy of the New Church (Bryn Athyn) (7-2)
4. Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia) (7-2)
5. Neshaminy (Langhorne) (6-0)
6. Council Rock North (Newtown) (6-1)
7. Penn Wood (Lansdowne) (2-4)
8. Archbishop Carroll (Radnor) (5-2)
9. Sts. Neumann & Goretti (Philadelphia) (3-2)
10. La Salle College (Wyndmoor) (7-1)

One of the biggest games in southeastern Pennsylvania will be taking place Thursday night, when two Philadelphia-area powerhouses from the same league meet for the first time this season.

The one interesting twist is when two-time state finalist Penn Wood visits traditional rival Chester at 7 p.m., it may not be Penn Wood that holds the upper hand.

In fact, six games into this new season, the Patriots, nationally ranked at the start the year, have stumbled a few times. They have opened with a very disappointing 2-4 overall record after a pretty poor display against New York City's Rice, dropping a 69-54 decision on Sunday at the fabled Palestra.

It wasn't so much that the Pats lost to Rice — it's how they lost. Penn Wood was indecisive during large segments of the game, added to the fact that the Pats made a myriad of mental mistakes and seemed to lose focus.

If not for the sterling play of West Virginia-bound Aaron Brown, who popped in a team-high 31 points, things could have gotten really ugly for Penn Wood.

But right now, as of the first week of January, the best team in District 1 Class AAAA is not Penn Wood and could very well be the Pats' Del-Val League rival Chester, which has started this season 6-1 and won its first five games.

The Clippers are buoyed by a balanced attack led by Erikk Wright and supported by Lamon Church, Dequann Walker, Maurice Nelson, Richard Grandbury and Rondae Jefferson.

Six games into this season, the Pats have Aaron Brown, Aaron Brown, Aaron Brown and some more Aaron Brown. He is one of MaxPreps' Top 100 players to watch in the 2011 class but hasn't received much help from anyone else, and the team that entered 2011 with such high aspirations and expectations now faces an interesting character test on Thursday against Chester.

"I don't like the way we're playing right now, and what's so frustrating is that I know we have the talent and the team to play better. Much, much better than the way we're playing right now," said Pats' coach Clyde Jones, who had a rather animated talk with his team for close to an hour after the Rice loss.

"We've been undisciplined and I'm surprised by our inability to handle pressure," Jones continued. "I'm mad because I know how talented we are, the talent is here, but collectively at the core, we're lacking confidence and discipline. We as a coaching staff go over things during practice, we tell them what to do, and what really bothers me is that we have more confidence in these kids and this team than our kids are showing in themselves.

"We're looking for workers, guys that play with an extreme confidence, and can play against anyone, in any venue. We get here to the Palestra, against a team like Rice, and everything I know we're capable of doing falls apart. Our kids have shown they're extremely confident when they're comfortable. The first sign of being uncomfortable and we have problems. Look, we can beat anyone if we play the right way. But if we play like we did against Rice, we couldn't come close to anyone."